This Oz Life

A photograph of me at 12:32 today. You'll understand later. On maternity leave, one probably imagines that I am at home watching Days of Our Lives (gag) and snuggling my 6 weeks old without a care in the world. This is not that story. This is maternity leave on speed. Just kidding...I don't do speed. Unless it is an ingredient in Frosties, then oops. Anyway... My earliest memory of the past week is last Thursday, when it was beginning to be HolyCrapWeAreListingThisWeekend … Read more

I've been looking through my photo archives starting on April 21, 2011. The day my life started. We brought Larkyn home the night before Easter, so this holiday holds a special place for me.  I had no idea what I was doing...I thought I was prepared from years of babysitting. Ha. I took a bazillion pictures of every little thing she did. She turns three today at 11:19 AM. I promised her she could play in the grocery store childcare (she's been fascinated with it for a few mont… Read more

So when you can't pull it together for Five on Friday and you have a great Saturday, this is what you do. Six on Saturday. Let's hear it for weekends! I do love the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but after that, I hate winter. I LOVE spring. Everything about it is pretty and happy...new flowers, new babies, SUN, butterflies, birds chirping. It wakes me up out of my winter hibernation and revitalizes me. How about you?  Here are a few things making me smile this weeke… Read more

Though it is not the 18th, if we are counting in weeks, my little guy is one month old today!  It seems like he has been with us forever, and those memories at the hospital are getting a little fuzzy. How big? Just moved out of Newborn and into 0-3 clothes today! Loves baths, snuggling in fluffy blankets, sleeping on mommy and daddy's chests,  curling up like a frog, watching mommy brush her teeth, the microwave vent fan Hates diaper changes, big sister being in his face constantly, … Read more

A few days after we brought Rhys home, we had the Hoylmans from Hoylman Photography come over to our house to snap some precious moments of our little guy (and us too!)  Being parents of 3 kids themselves, Jared and Sabrina were so helpful with corralling Larkyn and knowing just what to do to soothe Rhys when he wasn't into it. I found a lot of inspirations on Pinterest, but tried not to copy too much and let the Hoylmans do their thing. Which they did. These are my favorites...en… Read more

Although we have been busy at home with Baby Brother and getting our house ready to sell, I still wanted to give Larkyn a fun party to make her feel special for a day. Several months ago, I scoured Pinterest for some birthday theme ideas. I passed a few by the birthday girl, including Monsters Inc., Yo Gabba Gabba, and "Ice Cream Minnie". Much to my delight, she chose the Minnie option, with a palette of light pink, black, and white. Her birthday isn't until the 21st, b… Read more

Settling into life with two kids. It is no joke. About 80% of the time, things go as planned and everyone is happy. We were in such a good routine with Larkyn before Rhys that I like to think that that has made things a little easier. But that other 20% of the time?  This is when people refer to parenting as "in the trenches", I guess. The novelty of having a little sibling has worn off with Larkyn. It is clear to her that mommy cannot serve all her needs as immediately as I… Read more